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Netflix is preparing to launch social sharing features in its app
for Facebook now that an update to the Video Privacy Protection
Act is poised to become law. But after a year of sharing what
they read on Facebook, will people be as keen to share what they
watch?

The updated
law , which eliminates the every-time consent required by the
current video act, will let Netflix members share their viewing
history with friends online once they have granted permission in
the app. That means that every time you begin watching a movie on
Netflix, an announcement of what you're watching will appear on
your timeline.

The idea behind the automated sharing is to introduce movies to
friends so that they'll watch, too. This so-called frictionless
sharing ("frictionless" referring to a process that requires no
work on the viewer's part) has worked well for music services
such as Spotify
, but not so well for news sites.

Earlier this month, both the Washington Post and The Guardian
disabled its social readers in Facebook after the number of users
dropped. Now Facebook users who click on a story link are
sent to the source's website to read articles.

In response to the announcement on The Guardian's blog, a reader
wrote: "The Guardian app was one reason I stopped using Facebook.
It was extremely annoying to provide app permissions just to read
something, and I detest having an app telling the world what I am
reading, in an obscure manner."

Netflix may run into the same type of resistance. Do people
really want their friends and family knowing not only when
they're watching Netflix, but what they're watching as well? Read
more: How
to Stop Facebook's Frictionless Sharing

Spotify could provide a model solution. The app is one of the few
Facebook media apps that allows users to activate a private mode
that blocks sharing to Facebook. When Netflix
began its lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, a spokesperson
told TechNewsDaily that the company had no plans for a private
viewing mode. We've reached out to Netflix and asked if such a
feature is under consideration but have not yet received a
response.

The new bill does not require video services to include private
mode, but it does add certain limits to automatic sharing.
Viewers must renew their sharing option after 24 months of use,
or sharing will stop. Further, Netflix will be required to
include some type of mechanism to let users easily turn off
sharing at any time.

The video bill has been sent to President Barack Obama, who is
expected to sign it into law at the start of 2013.